Blogs & News

: Textile Art Celebrating Trailblazing Women

Elizabeth Gaskell's House is delighted to host a small exhibition of textile work created by the Trailblazing Stitching group. The work on display in The Bronte Room has been created over several years for International Women’s Day projects, and includes banners and tapestry hoops that celebrate trailblazing women connected with Greater Manchester. Please note that some elements of the textile collection may be removed from display for short periods of time to allow them to be taken to

: Online Talk: Writing Home – House and Home in Elizabeth Gaskell’s literature

“Oh, I can't describe my home. It is home, and I can't put its charm into words” Margaret Hale, North and South, 1855 From October 2024 to September 2025 Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of opening the public. So, you are invited to join other literary fans as we explore themes of house and home in our online events. The stereotype of the Victorian home is a place of domestic bliss with an angelic woman

: Online Talk: Literary Locations – Finding Elizabeth Gaskell

As part of the 10-year anniversary celebrations of the opening of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, we’re celebrating the real-life homes that inspired this incredible writer. You are invited on a special online literary journey looking for the real locations of novels and short stories. Dr Diane Duffy takes you on a virtual visit to the houses and homes featured in Victorian classics including Cranford, North and South, Mary Barton, Wives and Daughters and more. In other words, you can

: Temporary Exhibition: The Story of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House from Dereliction to Delight

October 2024 was the 10-year anniversary of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House being opened to the public following its restoration. It took many years of fundraising and determination from a dedicated group of volunteers to get to where we are today. To celebrate this milestone, a new exhibition has been created using oral history interviews from some of the people involved. From Janet Allan, who led the campaign, to Frank Galvin, the self-dubbed 'House detective', this new exhibition delves into

: Online Talk: Laughter and Literature – Comedy in Elizabeth Gaskell

“Out of the way! We are in the throes of an exceptional emergency! This is no occasion for sport- there is lace at stake!" Cranford, 1853 The hard-hitting novels of a Victorian minister’s wife may not be the most likely place to look for comedy, but Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing is packed full of mirth. Even in her social novel Ruth about an unmarried mother, there is room for a little laughter. Humour and grief can be regular bedfellows